Craze by Anne Conley Read Free Book Online Page A

didn’t look delicate at all. In fact, Krista thought to herself that if he wasn’t a bad guy, she wouldn’t mind having found him first. He looked like a good man to have in her corner.
    Too bad he was in the other corner.
    She must have sighed at the thought because he looked at her quizzically and she dropped her eyes to his feet, wondering where he was taking her. Her entire body was tense, in a weird position, and her shoulders ached. Krista was tempted to lay her head down on his thigh but didn’t want to relax. That’s probably exactly what he wanted. He wanted her to relax before he did bad things to her. Fear made her hand sweaty—fear of the unknown. She had no idea what was next, but she knew she couldn’t do anything but wait for another opportunity to run.
    When he parked the truck behind an office building, she was surprised. She’d thought he’d take her to Mr. Lowe, or at least some dank warehouse where bad guys lived or something. Not a nice looking office building.
    Eye Candy looked down at her, shifting in his seat, sucking all her breathable air with the movement.
    “I don’t need restraints, do I? I’d like to take the cuffs off to go through the lobby.” He flashed those teeth again. “We’re not really supposed to take bad guys in that way.”
    She wanted indignation to fill her body with rage. She wanted the anger to feed her emotions. She wanted to be a mighty, roaring woman. But instead, Krista’s voice sounded meek as she protested, “I’m not the bad guy,” unable to muster the indignation at being treated like a common criminal. Ed Lowe was the monster, along with the other man he’d been with. But nobody would believe her. Krista was the one who would be locked up, kept away from her family and everything she ever loved.
    She wondered if she looked as scared as she felt.
    Apparently, she did. After unlocking the cuff from under his seat, he held her hand in his, clasping it gently. She resisted the urge to pull away, realizing now she was free from the handcuffs, she might have another chance to escape. His other hand reached out to her face briefly before dropping, but not before his rough fingertips brushed across her cheek. “We’re not here to hurt you. We just want some answers, okay?”
    Something in his eyes begged her to trust him, and she nodded weakly. “Okay,” she squeaked out.
    He came around and opened her door for her, ushering her out with his hand at her back, almost possessively. If she hadn’t had the last eighteen hours she had, she would be able to pretend this was a date, the way he walked next to her, his eyes scorching her skin.
    He led her through the lobby of the office building and to the elevators. They rode to the third floor in silence, his hand on her elbow, burning through the shirt she wore over her sweater.
    When they got off, an efficient looking red-headed woman greeted them. “Hey, Ryan. Simon’s waiting for you guys.” Her eyes perused Krista, but not in a threatening way. “Can I get you something? I have coffee, water, tea, and some muffins, if you’d like.”
    She looked friendly enough, but Krista had no idea what was going on, or where she was. She knew why all this was happening, but still didn’t trust anybody. Ryan. Nice name. For some reason, she wanted to trust him. That’s probably why they sent him. His ruggedly handsome looks probably got Ed Lowe and his accomplice all sorts of women to photograph when they weren’t busy with little boys.
    She cringed at the thought as she shook her head. “No, thank you.”
    Ryan looked at her. “You sure?” It was like he knew she didn’t trust him, and the hurt in his eyes was evident.
    “Yeah, don’t think I can eat anything.” She didn’t care if his damn feelings were hurt.
    Ryan turned to the woman. “Miriam, get her some coffee with cream and sugar. I doubt she’s eaten anything since yesterday.” Krista’s eyes snapped to Ryan and nothing but kindness showed.